Page 48 - BSAM 2015 Q3

Bjorn’s access to top quality bonsai specimens adds much credibility and authority to the offering. Below are two trees featured in the Bonsai Beginner’s Course.
Oscar, who lives in Amsterdam, discovered a pas- sion for both bonsai and the internet when he was fourteen. He started a simple website called Bonsai Empire to promote and teach the art of bonsai. To- day Bonsai Empire exceed 1 million visits a month, all languages combined. Many followers depend on Oscar to connect them to the wide world of bonsai. He is the author of the online best-seller, “Bonsai, a beginners guide.”
Bjorn Bjorholm also discovered bonsai at an early age. He went on to serve a traditional, six-year bon- sai apprenticeship in Japan at the Fujikawa Kouka-en Nursery under the master Keiichi Fujikawa and now travels the world teaching and demonstrating bonsai. His films, Bonsai Art of Japan, broadcast on Bjorn’s channel on You Tube has 15,000 subscribers (total view count almost 3 million in 4 years).
With the use of today’s technology and their keen intuitions, they are reaching out to a new generation of bonsai enthusiasts with an online course that is avail- able on demand with a one-time purchase. Students progress at their own pace—most lessons are two to seven minutes long—the longest session is about 18 minutes in duration. The entire course can be watched in about a hundred minutes. The information pro- vided is well-presented and easy to follow. Students can stop the lecture to practice on their tree as they progress through the lectures.
The course is a series of high definition films that employ lively music, professional camera work, well- written scripts and informative graphics and titles. Fast-motion photography is used to keep the students attention during repetitive work such as detail wiring. The website is responsive, meaning the content ad- justs in size to accommodate large screens, tablets and smart phones. The first series of lectures are succinct and provide an overview. The subjects are treated in much more detail later in the course. There are bonus
46 | BCI | July/August/September 2015